Following is an excellent teaching which we strongly urge everyone to prayerfully consider when posting dreams and/or visions for interpretation.

Why posting full dreams is important:

If you are looking for an interpretation to a dream then the dream needs to be posted in as unbiased, (ie unfiltered), objective and complete a way as possible.

Problems with leaving out details:

When you selectively post only some details of your dream, you are assuming that you know what the important bits are. The whole point of sharing on a dream interpretation board is to ask for the Spirit-empowered, considered insights of others to contribute to your weighing and understanding of the dream. By withholding elements the dream is necessarily distorted (to the reader) and the interpretation will be affected. It also means that you have no chances of having your own biases confronted (in hopefully a positive way!)

For example, “a black cat comes into my kitchen and eats.” Would be altered significantly with the addition of defining details such as: “A black cat which was mine and very beloved, came through the cat flap and ate his food out of his bowl” . This would have a very different interpretation to this version : “A strange, black cat came through an open window and ate the steak on the counter top which was I had left out for family’s evening meal.”

Leaving out details:

1. Denies the interpreter the information they need to attempt to make an accurate and considered interpretation.
2. Makes assumptions which may be unwittingly biased either in a positive or negative way.
3. May avoid a healthy confession or dealing with some sin issue and thus thwart our growth and freedom. (The heart is deceitful above all things…Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9)

Problems with only posting portions

Similar to leaving out details only posting portions of dreams can result in inaccurate insights. The balance of the whole dream can be skewed in either a positive or a negative way and its central message can be lost. We need to remember that most dreams are problem- solving ones which serve us up with coded data to confront issues which we are avoiding in the daytime. Thus some of the material which comes up is challenging to us precisely because it can be something we have avoided in our conscious state. All the more reason why we need to be ruthlessly objective in relaying the details and full content of dreams because it gets us to face up to stuff we can spend a lot of time avoiding  It is also true that we can overlook surprising encouragements which can be hidden in portions of dreams which we might think initially are less “fun” or interesting.

Consider this example:

Scene 1: I am in a room which is darkened and I am weeping on the floorboards. I feel lonely and imprisoned.
Scene 2: I see a door in the room which I walk through into a room filled with light and I begin to laugh.

It’s a very simple example but if I only posted the first scene the interpretation would be very different wouldn’t it?

Now consider:
Scene 3: I return to the dark room and I begin to open the curtains which had been closed. I opened a window and though I am sad I began to feel peace.

This final scene once again brings new dimensions to the interpretation which would be missed if it was not included.

It is often true that there are details which can end up being unimportant and if made too central they can become a distraction. It is a learning process for us all to discern which details are important. On balance and with respect to us all it seems better all round to try and post the full dream and in full detail with colours/black and white mood descriptions etc. so we can all learn. I personally find it helps to break the dream down into scenes too as that often helps us see the progression of the “storyline”.

Levels and timings of interpretation

In addition, I have come to see that dreams may have a number of levels of application. It’s not that “you can read anything into them” but that in the same way that the Spirit can bring fresh manna from the same old Bible verses, so dreams have a way of bringing new revelations sometimes at different levels; it’s a bit like looking at something which is multifaceted and seeing the beauty from another angle. When we first post a dream we can focus on portions or details which make sense to us NOW but on looking back (at least for those of us who archive dreams!) we will miss the additional dimensions if we have not recorded the details and dream in its entirety.

On the timing front, some dreams have a time lag attached to them in the sense that they are meant to “ferment” in our spirit for a time before the revelation is released. It’s better to ferment fully formed dreams than portions.

Summary:

• Symbols/details in context for accurate interpretation.
• Don’t be tempted to frame the dream in a way which seems more “glorious” or positive or even, if you are a pessimist, more negative
• Work on presenting whole dream broken down into scenes as the meaning of the symbols often develops through the dream.
• Expect some uncomfortable challenges (from within your own dreams)-they help you grow!
• Embrace the encouragements-they also help you grow!

Now, I have been amazed over the years how I can have an idea/interp on a dream of mine but when I post it as objectively as possible and ask people on this board to seek to interpret it, I have been amazed over and over how my eyes have been opened to emphasis that I have not seen...this board has been an unexpectedly rich blessing to me in understanding my dreams...in their entirety...it’s a risk and a privilege sharing dreams isn't it?

Remember that no one can force an interpretation on you but that you need to weigh and consider offerings and ask the Spirit to help you understand.

An abundance of thanks to our sister, charlie, for sharing her wisdom.

Tehillah Admistration Team

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head.... ~Psalm 133